Visiter les chateaux de la Loire

To my delight, there is in fact a computer lab at the Fac, so I can check my email, etc. without having to take a half an hour tram ride back to the Institute. Yay! True, there is a fifteen minute wait, but hey... it's free, and it's convenient. It's kind of funny that it's in the foreign language building, but I think it's actually kind of for the foreign students, because French students really use computers a lot less than Americans, for example. They actually still hand-write most of their papers! They also have oral exams - even for math and physics! Isn't that nuts?? I mean, not that it doesn't work, it is just so different than what I am used to!

I had such a scare today at lunch - I couldn't find my purse anywhere. My purse has just about half my life in it, by the way - my phone, my keys, my bus pass, my credit cards! - so I immediately started to panic. I thought it might have been stolen on the tram this morning but I couldn't remember for sure the last time I'd seen it. I ran around like a crazy person for half an hour, before finally returning home and finding it, of all places, hanging innocently on its hook in my bedroom. I can't believe how scatterbrained I can be!!! But I think maybe it was a good reminder to be careful with your things. Now I'm a lot less likely to leave it carelessly lying about somewhere or easily accessible to thieves.

Hey, I'm trying to look on the bright side. Still, I'm reading Candide right now - for fun - and I have to say, Voltaire makes my "everything happens for a reason" philosophy (which is the same as Candide's) seem a bit ridiculous. It should be interesting to see what I think about it after I finish the book...

Anyway, the tour of the chateaux this weekend was fabulous! I don't necessarily think we saw the biggest or the best but... it was a nice vacation. And there are so many to choose from. I think we went to Montgeoffroy because it is the most intact 17th century interior, plus it's pretty close to Nantes. However, it is kind of just a really big and extremely nice house. I might call it a manor or a mansion, but it's definitely not a castle. Interestingly, the original family still lives there on the second floor (with two servants, I might add). How cool would that be, to be the Marquis de Something-or-other and live in a chateau? So, next we saw the slightly older Azay-le-Rideau, which had quite a collection of 15th century tapestries. Sadly, all the colors have faded but the blue... Still, they are pretty extraordinary. An even bigger mansion, this one did have two towers and a moat. And it was pretty drafty. But I don't know... French castles are just so civilized. There is no way princesses and dragons would consider moving in. (I think my idea of a 'castle' comes from the medieval structures that hopefully I'll get a chance to see when I tour England and Scotland! Yay!) It's crazy how big the rooms in some of these chateaux are, though. The king-size bed in the Chambre de Roi (ha, literally made for the king) is absolutely dwarfed by the 15-foot ceilings and large dimensions of the room. Of course, in the 17th century the room was used for more than just sleeping; one also ate and entertained in the bedroom. Two servants slept there as well, on pallets next to the bed; thus for privacy (and warmth), the beds have those long curtains, sometimes on posts or simply suspended directly from the ceiling. I think they are so elegant! And they're up on the wooden platform so your feet don't get cold when you get out of bed in the morning. How nice. :)

Saturday afternoon we visited the beautiful gardens of Villandry, which are extensive, to say the least. There are the ornamental gardens, the kitchen gardens, the herb gardens, the water gardens, one of those hedge mazes, greenhouses, etc. All very artificial and geometrical but pleasant all the same. It's sort of like the idea of paradise as something very regular and idealistic, everything perfectly in place and separate and aesthetically pleasing. There is a stream with several rounded waterfalls leading to a lake with swans and surrounded by perfectly trimmed bushes. (Of course I couldn't look at them the same once someone remarked upon the phallic nature of the bushes' shapes, but it's not my fault I'm traveling with a bunch of silly college students! Ha ha...) There are over 2000 lime trees lining all of the paths, which have to be trimmed by hand, which apparently takes 4 men 4 months to do. It's funny, the idea that it takes so much work in the dirt to make a garden like that, but the result is so clean and neat and seemingly effortless; one would almost think the flowers and bushes just grew like that, but in fact the flowers (or vegetables, depending on the garden) are each carefully chosen depending on the season, the crop rotation, the soil, etc. Well, unfortunately I can't say anymore on the subject because I know very little about gardening and in fact tend to kill whatever poor plants find themselves under my care...

Sunday we went to Cheverny, which is also surrounded by a large and lovely park, and was primarily a sort of extremely upscale hunting lodge for nobility. They still do traditional stag hunts there with all the dogs and horses and everything. The hundred dogs they use (!) are a special breed of Engilsh Fox hound and French Pervin (or some such?)... kind of big, but more slender than burly, with floppy ears. (Man do they smell, though!) This chateau is also still inhabited by the orginal family; unfortunately both of the sons are much too young for me... Ha ha, just kidding. They do rent out the Orangerie for weddings though! Side note - that Orangerie is where they hid many national treasures during WWII, including the Mona Lisa!

Finally, we visited my favorite, Chenonceau. It is very feminine. I heard once that it was designed by a woman, or was her idea, which doesn't surprise me one bit. It is the most famous of those we visited and was certainly the most crowded. I almost couldn't enjoy it, there were so many people there. And this is in October! Imagine what it's like in August! Sheesh. But it's really beautiful the way the chateau is built almost like a bridge; with all the arches underneath it looks almost as if it is floating over the river, and from the Gallerie inside - which was the huge ballroom - you have a lovely view down the length of the river. I loved it. Standing in the black-and-white tiled Gallerie I could almost hear the waltz music! If I could go back in time to one of those balls... It must have been amazing. In fact, the Gallerie was used during WWI as a hospital, and had a total of 2200 or so patients. (Wonder what the builders of these chateaux would think of their future uses??) Chenonceau was lived in by Catherine Medici, who became the Regent of France after her husband Henri III (I think) died and while her son was too young to rule. There were quite a few other women from the royal family who lived there from time to time; Louise Someone-or-other came there after the assassination of her husband (another Henri?) to live in mourning, and her room is SO depressing - painted entirely in black with black velvet draperies, etc! I've never seen the like. Again, the gardens are lovely, and there's a 16th century farm on the property but we didn't have time to see it. In fact, we were pretty rushed the whole visit at that chateau, but I decided the best thing about it was the architecture and the view from far away anyhow, so oh well. It was nice to get home at a decent hour (after a 3 hour bus ride back! Ugh...). Besides, I think the most important thing to note in this blog entry is that my burning desire to visit a French castle has now been satisfied (four times over!), so I am happy. :)